Sales of new homes fell 13.8 percent in the East Bay during August compared with the same month the year before, according to a new report. Sales plunged 26.3 percent in San Joaquin County, and they fell 15 percent in Santa Clara County and 12.8 percent across California, the CBIA/Hanley Wood Market Intelligence report said. Activity improved in other parts of the Bay Area in the year-to-year comparison: New-home sales rose 40.5 percent in the San Mateo-San Francisco-Marin region and by 37 percent in Solano County. “New home sales in California remained at historic low levels in August, signaling that the state’s housing sector may be slow to recover from a stubborn recession,” the California Building Industry Association said in a prepared release.

Real estate

Craven Property Holdings LLC has bought the former Cleveland Steel Container site in Oakland for $1.1 million in a transaction arranged through NAI BT Commercial brokers Jay Hagglund and Gary Fracchia. Craven intends to occupy the entire 26,000-square-foot, two-building site, located at 3100 East 10th St. near Derby Avenue for its own operations.

WLC Architects Inc. leased 12,000 square feet of office space in Berkeley in a deal arranged through commercial realty brokerages Grubb & Ellis and Colliers International. WLC is moving about 40 employees to the building from a current location in Emeryv ille, said Aileen Dolby, a Colliers broker.

PERSONNEL

Mountain View-based Google Inc. says a board member who is also a director of computer maker Apple Inc. is stepping down, removing a potential conflict of interest as the two companies look to compete more directly. Arthur Levinson, chairman of the biotech company Genentech Inc. and a Google board member since April 2004, is stepping down effective immediately.

Pleasanton-based Zeltiq Aesthetics has named Gordie Nye as chief executive officer of the company, which develops non-invasive procedures to reduce unwanted fat tissue. Nye was a general partner with Prism Venture Partners. Zeltiq has raised over $70 million in venture funding.